WR celebrates 70 `electric’ years

Speaking about the 70th year of electrification, he said the suburban railway system has reached a saturation point in which development is just impossible. However, he opined, conversion of conventional Direct Current (DC) Electric Multiple Units (EMU) to Alternate Current (AC) traction will help the railways improve the service standards and an annual saving of Rs. 16 crore at current rates.

Projected to cost a whopping Rs 580 crore approximately, the AC/DC conversion would allow the railways to run its trains upto Dahanu, a demand which has come from all quarters of the society for many years.

Elaborating on the salient features of the proposed new system which awaits the Railway Board’s approval, Garg stated that as soon as the board approves the proposal, work will begin. However the decision will take atleast three-four months, he added.

“In the proposed new system the rakes will have better braking facility as braking system is most important considering the dense crush load conditions all through the day. Also, the new rakes will be environment-friendly.”

The project is likely to kick off four months later and will take at least seven years before it is commissioned, the Western Railway official further stated.

R K Bhatnagar, Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer, gave details of the railways’ achievements on the energy conservation front. “As all the rakes consume electricity which the railways buy from suppliers one nine-car rake consumes about 30 units of power per km,” said Bhatnagar. The railways’ annual power bill comes to Rs 64 crore, he added.

“The cost of the project is two-pronged – Rs 300 crore will be required to change the over-head equipment while conversion of rakes will be done at the cost of Rs 4 crore each,” Bhatnagr disclosed. On the extra load the existing Electric Motor Unit rakes carry, Bhatnagar said that an EMU rake is designed to carry only 1800 passengers while during its operation it carries nearly 5000 passengers during the peak hours.